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New Starter (Tyneside)

MrZeedy

By MrZeedy
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MrZeedy

MrZeedy

Posted
Posted

Hi,

Just joined, thought i'd say hi.

I've been into photography for a while now but the other week whilst waiting for the full moon to rise i pointed the lens at the Orion Nebula and grabbed a pic which i was really surpised at as it had loads more detail than i expected given my kit and the light polluted location. I think i've been bitten by something now! I do hope its not that "aperture fever" i've been reading about!

So i've bought some 20x80 binos as a scope isnt really practical for me right now. I'm looking forward to getting to know the stars a bit more thoroughly than my current passing knowledge and this seems like a great place for advice and resources.

Cheers all.

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JonDoe

JonDoe

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Posted

Hi MrZeedy welcome to SGL, bino`s are a great way to learn your way around the sky before getting a telescope, download Stellarium aswell and grab a planisphere to aid you.

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HIP3802

HIP3802

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Hi, MrZeedy, and welcome to SGL! I would support the suggestions made of 'Stellarium' and a Planisphere. Stellarium is a free downloadable planetarium which can easily be adapted for local skies and will show you what is available at any given time. A Planisphere is usually two laminated cards. When moved to show the date and time they will reveal what constellations are showing and where to find them.

Beware of aperture fever - the only known cure is an empty bank account!!!

Martin

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ronl

ronl

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Hi and welcome to the lounge, I am a newbie also with bins, you are doing the right thing, learning the night sky is a long process, I have been observing for over 8 months and I have a long way to go.

Good Luck

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scarp15

scarp15

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Enjoy the forum, and if you feel that you can grab an opportunity to venture out of Tyneside for sessions - with your camera and binoculars, to dark skys, then I would recommend joining Sunderland Astro.

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DrRobin

DrRobin

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Hi,

Welcome to SGL and a whole universe of objects to look at. We sometimes get some decent weather round here, obviously nothing much lately, but hopefully that will change soon. There are some really dark sites around here and you don't need to travel too far to find some nice spots.

There are plenty of software packages to get you up and running, but if you want an on line site which tells you what is up and visible in your set up try http://tonightssky.com/MainPage.php it is very good to what you will be able to see.

Robin

just to the west of Newcastle.

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JamesF

JamesF

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Welcome to SGL

If you'd like to do more photography there's no reason you should need a telescope. For exposures of up to about 30 seconds (depending on focal length) you can get away with a tripod, and for longer exposures a telescope mount with the camera on top can work very nicely. This was done exactly that way:

http://www.tanstaafl.co.uk/2012/09/another-wide-field-andromeda-galaxy-attempt/

James

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MrZeedy

MrZeedy

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Thanks for the welcome!

Already had Stellarium on the desktop, mainly to identify the radiants of meteor showers which i'm interested in. Now got it on the phone which will be very useful i'm sure. Also got an app called sky safari that i saw recommended in a thread on comet panstarrs and i have to say it looks very good indeed.

Nice to see one or two fellow Geordies about! I do get out of Tyneside for some dark skies up in northumberland occaisionally and i cant wait to try the new kit out there.

Thanks again for the welcome!

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bob1957

bob1957

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Hi and welcome to SGL. I lived in South Shields for many years (sorry I'm not a Geordie) until a year ago then moved to Summer Wine country. You've got one the best areas in the country for dark skies at Kielder, which I visited a few times, so hopefully you can make use of your binoculars up there. But beware this obsession that we call astronomy which has a terrible knack of quickly emptying your bank account, resulting in marital beak down and staying up at ungodly hours just so that you can join astro forums where you complain about the lack of clear skies :grin:. Have fun, all the best, Bob :laugh:

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JamesM

JamesM

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Hi and welcome to the forum. You might want to take a look at this website called, "The binocular Sky" which offers some good equipment advice as well as a monthly observing list to help you learn the night sky. The book, "Turn Left at Orion" would be another suggested read to get you started and it contains around 100 suggested targets that are suitable for modest scopes and binoculars. It includes information about each one and along with written instruction, it includes some great maps on how to find them which will go well with Stellarium you have already downloaded. If you want some idea of what is contained, you can take a look here to see how this book looks and what it contains. Hope that helps. :smiley:

Clear skies and enjoy the forum

James

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